Burn The Fairy Tales

by Adeline Whitmore

Kill the prince. Give the princess a sword. Send her into battle. Watch her win. This poetry book is a work of feminist self-empowerment for women and of understanding for men. It deals with love, loss, self discovery, self love, grief, and inspiration.

Genres: Poetry, Feminism, Ebooks, Nonfiction

114 pages, Paperback

Published July 30, 2017

Reviews

[Katie.dorny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just sat here and read through this in one go.
It definitely called out every patriarchal bullshit rule we have today in society.
But it wasn't mind-blowing poetry - it said what I was thinking as a feminist, but it didn't say anything new or in a new way.
But it was worth a read just as a confidence booster alone.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flower
________

you are not
a flower
sitting pretty
smiling into
a summer breeze

you are
a fucking thunderstorm
raining vengeance
upon the wicked


5/5 stars!

Review: June 30, 2021

Burn the Fairy Tales by Adeline Whitmore review.

Synopsis:

Burn The Fairy Tales is a poetry book about taking power into your own hands and fighting back against the wrongs of the world. It is a feminist journey of self-empowerment through self-discovery, self-love, and inspiration.

The first time I read this I rated it 5 stars. The second time I read this I rated it 3 stars.
I noticed how this book has some man hating poems on it yet has one about being a Feminist and wanting men and women to be equal. A feminist is not a man hater. They want equality. So I did find fault in this book and I didn’t enjoy what I saw.
There were some poems in this book that I did like though.

Today
______
Love
Every curve
Cherish
Every stretch mark
Adore
Every part of you
Just love
Yourself
A little extra
Today
You deserve it.

Rise
_____
You were broken
You were at rock bottom
You were
At the end
Of your strength
But look up
For the sun is rising
And you
Will rise
With it.

3/5 Stars

[Cherlynn | cherreading · Rating 1 out of 5]

Burn The Fairy Tales? More like... burn this book.

Just because you
write like this
does not make
you
a poet

When will people get it? It's like anyone can self-publish anything these days. This is not a poetry book. It's just random quotes and words strewn together.

The content itself feels unoriginal, like a bad knock-off of the strong, mysterious and inspiring Amanda Lovelace. Or a Rupi Kaur and Nikita Gill wannabe. There's a lot of man-hating and you-don't-say spew. The author, instead of being inspirational, has an obvious superiority complex.

Looked promising but turned out to be highly disappointing.

[Wendi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whatever that is I just read is not poetry. It's just a rant against men and how women don't need them. Except Obama who is apparently the only good man that ever lived. Oh and there's a small rant about the GOP thrown in.

It's also filled with misspelled words and the layout is terrible.

[Kristen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m all for books empowering women and being about feminism, but this book isn’t that. It’s honestly s lot of man-hating and it’s quite conflicting — you don’t need a man but HEY YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH ME.

So I was on the fence with it but completely hopped on the side of NOPE when I go to the middle of the book and read a poem basically saying hey, I need you to share this book it’s everyone so I can make a living. If your book is good, I will. Don’t tel me to share the book, let your words speak for themselves. But they don’t. This one poem seriously turned me off so hard and just made me mad. 😒

[Jess ✩ · Rating 1 out of 5]

What

What was this. What was this format. Just... WHAT WAS THIS MESS. I really don't recommend this to anyone, cause wow.

[Maks Javinar · Rating 1 out of 5]

All I read are rants written in a book that is so called poetry :(

[Franzi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This just lacked any kind of substance. It's filled with feministic thoughts/phrases that have been around for decades and feels more like an unfinished scrapbook instead of a poetry collection.

Extra star for the line "for the sun is rising and you will rise with it" which I love so much I'm thinking about getting it tattooed. But that's the exception.

The author is already begging for good reviews IN THE BOOK ITSELF because it is apparently the only way for her to become financially independent and that just left such a bad taste in my mouth.

[Rachel Nicole Wagner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Thoughts

Good thought but bad layout in kindle edition. It made it really hard to decipher. However, what I did understand was good and quite motivational.

Xo,
Rach

[Karina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really love the title of this book - which is the reason why I picked this up. But that's where it all ended. This is disappointing. The format was so confusing. The writing wasn't really impressive. It was OKAY. I wasn't really satisfied, but since I appreciate the messages of some poems, I am still giving it 3 stars.

[Holly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm liberal, but some of the poems in this book were a bit too extreme for me. I found a lot of the same messages being repeated in a way that was a bit annoying to me. Some were good though. The self-promotion through poems though was a bit off-putting.

[ThePhoenix93 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A positive little book, not really poetic, but is short and to the point. A comfort read when you're feeling down and need to be reminded of your own strenght, but I wouldn't exactly call it poetry. Love the idea and the messages behind it.

[Kylie · Rating 3 out of 5]

"you are not the damsel in distress you are the dragon bringing fear to the hearts of men so breathe your fire and unleash your strength on the world"

[Steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m torn on this one. On one hand, a lot of the entries felt trite, as though I had read them before in Tumblr posts. But on the other hand, I felt that perhaps a younger version of me would get a lot out of such a book. Idk. At my age, this just felt too trendy and some pieces were a bit condescending.

[Shannon O'Connor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bleh

Okay so I really wanted to like this book and although it having several points worth highlighting, it was so basic and I felt like it didn’t have any purpose. It was trying too hard to be something, where the poems seemed unoriginal and uninspiring

[Amanda Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some poems were really great, but overall some verses felt like the poet was trying way too hard. Lots of poems felt very tumblr -ish and we're only one sentence long.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

ew another work by a man-hating feminazi who clearly needs to get laid and be loved

[Cristhian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pese a la calificación me gustó mucho...

El problema es que está HORRIBLEMENTE editado (¿formateado?) en su versión de kindle (desconozco si hay otra versión) ya que no hay forma de diferenciar el final de un poema del inicio del otro hasta que deja de hacer sentido. No hay distintos formatos para títulos o saltos de línea, en fin.

Si algún día arreglan esto, será de mis favoritos.

[Jamie (Books and Ladders) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 2.5*

I thought this was good but it wasn’t great? There were some good thoughts in this but it didn’t feel like poetry. It felt like motivational posters in a poetry layout and I would have liked a bit more to it than that. I think it had some good thoughts but nothing that really made me want to read more by the author. I had a hard time with how the author discussed men and the idea that certain women were better than others. And the description of feminism was ... lacking to say the least.

[Emily Kenney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly I couldn’t put it down !! It took me 1 hour and 25 mins and I am only 13 and I felt amazing after reading this book it has put a whole new perspective on what I think of myself and I can happily say that it is one of the best books I have read 5/5 ⭐️

[Anam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope.

Why put your rants in paper
and get it published,
When we have social media
for all such sh!t.

I'm a woman
And this book is supposed to be feminist
But my feminine self
Doesn't allow me to recommend it.

#okaybye

[dalia · Rating 2 out of 5]

some poems hitted home

[Unity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kill the Prince, you don't need him and fuck everyone who says you do. Love yourself more than anyone else for it is you who will wake up with you every morning and it is you who will be there in middle of the night. Not any one else.

"you
were meant
for greatness

you
were meant to conquer

you
are more
than you seem

you
are a hero in the making."

[Lovelene Pearl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have my favorites and I also have my idc lists of poems

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

In case you hadn’t noticed, I went from reading no poetry over the course of my life to reading a ton of poetry in 2018. I’m not sure what happened, really, other than I started using my library a lot more and I have made more bookish friends. Anyway, Gerry recommended that I read this, not in a “wow, I really loved it” way but more in a “hmm, I didn’t like it and I think you won’t like it either but I’d like to hear your thoughts” kind of way. In other words, I was basically advised to hate-read this, and if that’s not my favorite, I don’t know what is. Thank god this was free via the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

Anyway, I decided that the best way to review this collection is to just type whatever comes to mind while reading, so here you go. My more-or-less linear thoughts while reading Burn the Fairy Tales.

// you can find the full review, and lots of others, on my blog //

[Bryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Either this chick didn't have a father figure hug her in her childhood or her advances were rebuffed by the star Quarterback in high school. either way, I have never seen so much raw hatred for a particular gender. Men would be labeled a misogynist for half of the hate spewed from this book and publicly shamed. I would have to say maybe misandric people need to have the same thing done to them.

I would have to say this gal really needs to see a therapist and I will pray that she can one day find peace. Because that is one person who is sadly so tormented by something and she clearly doesn't know why.

They are nothing more than micro rants with no basis for why these words were used for no greater purpose than to waste a person's time.

[Alison · Rating 1 out of 5]

At least it's a short book...

I am so glad that this book was so short because, quite honestly, I don't think I would have read a page more. It reminds me so much of that I Wrote This For You junk that is apparently very popular amongst the "youth". To me it was just a duck ton of repetition and cliches that are so old it's sad. Also, the middle of the book poem begging for sales is really just the icing on the cake of sadness.

[Arden · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are some good messages in this collection, but not good poetry.

I know that poetry is ultimately a very subjective experience, but I believe that poetry should always be about care for the language--how each word pairs together, flows into the next, for sounds and senses and syntax--and there was no care expressed in these poems. I guess this collection might resonate differently with someone else, but with the lack of poetic language, it just didn't hit home for me.

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

2⭐️

Doesn’t feel like real poetry and didn’t demonstrate any new ideas. I’ve heard the things said in this book constantly. Good message, but so repetitive.

[Caseyjadehall · Rating 5 out of 5]

“AFTER THE FAIRIES BURN”

The book that I chose to review is “Burn the fairytales.” It is written by Adeline Whitmore. It is a collection of poetry that is approximately one hundred and fourteen pages long. The poetry book covers various topics in relation to feminism and various situations that involve heartbreak. The poetry book begins by mentioning that a woman is, in fact, still whole without a man. A woman is said to be much more than a man just by merely existing alongside them. Women have to endure much more criticism than a man does just for merely existing. The poetry goes on to explain that women have to endure a double standard because they are considered a “distraction” amongst the men that surround them. This is considered a double standard (Pg. 11) The book continues to aid a woman going through a potential heartbreak by saying that just because it did not work out in this instance, it does not mean that the relationship that you seek is unattainable. It goes on to explain that if a man truly loved you that he would prove himself worthy of that love, and would not fall short of showing you his true feelings. “Real men are not afraid of a woman’s sexuality strength, or power…” (Pg. 25) The book goes on to include that if a man only cares about his satisfaction during sex, that he is also not truly worthy of our love.

This book also touches on political matters such as those of a radical republican point of view that shows that the country should remain “anti-women, anti choice, and pro-evil.”(Pg. 37) It demonstrates that the vast majority of our country wishes for women to remain unequal to a man, when it comes to the right to vote and a right for equal pay. The author mentions that “true love is effortless, and everlasting…” because the best kind of person that one wishes to be, should be drawn out by someone who deeply and truly cares for them. One can take from this text that the author has had various encounters with men involving heartbreak and perhaps the self-guilt that she must feel throughout each and every relationship that she has faced. “the worst thing about love is that it cannot be found by looking, it has to be run into…”(Pg. 51) There is truth within this statement. When you are the least expectant of love, that is when it seems to run right into you. Another strong topic that is covered within this book of poetry is the topic of self love. Each and every sub-topic that relates to handling heartbreak or self-confidence that the reader is experiencing, ends with a very strong concept that recommends a sort of self-love, that the reader should take from each situation. The book seems to offer words of hope, to the hopeless. It spreads a word that preaches to help out our fellow woman.